Paula Deen museum still in the works

3 years ago

Plans to turn Paula Deen's childhood home into a museum are still moving forward, despite the controversy upending the queen of Southern cuisine. Businesswoman B.J. Fletcher hopes the holidays will bring an eventful ribbon-cutting ceremony in Albany, Georgia.

The museum idea has been in the works for almost two years now. Fletcher has been working with Deen's ex-husband, Jimmy Deen, to get it off the ground. They're awaiting approval from the city leaders to move the home from its current location to a location near other Albany tourist attractions. Once everything is in place, Fletcher says the Deen home will be comparable to the Tupelo, Mississippi home Elvis Presley grew up in as a must-see stop for visitors.

Deen, meantime, continues efforts to salvage her crumbling empire cracked by a discrimination lawsuit and her admitted use of racially-charged language. The fallout has cost the celebrity chef numerous partnerships with high profile business interests.